Amphibian



J. M. HAlT July 5, 1949.

AMPHIBIAN 2 Sheets-$heet 1 Filed Feb. 15, 1945 J. M. HAlT AMPHIBIAN July 5, 1949.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 15, 1945 Patented July 5, 1949 PATENT OFFICE AMPHIBIAN James Ijlait, San Gabriel, Calif., assignor to Feed. ach ner n C em c e tion a cer or n of' e w Application February'1 43, Serial N0A75L 33.

2 Claims, 1 Th s inv n ion r lates t amphib s nd h particular utility in cargo-carrying amphibians employed in amphibious naval warfare Amph ans p o ded he thi pur o e have t l s e ts mounted on p o e s e 2 an amphibian in which, the heavier items of e pm nt ar se disposed s to i t e amphibian good balance-in the water when traveling lo d d or light ndat th ame m leave one end of the amphibian jree for the installation oi 0. thereof, and must be relatively short to permit a. door therein. them to turn readily by difierential driving of The manner of ,aceonfiplishing the foregoing hes be she ca o-car yi c r m Ob ct s well efurther objec and ee -van: in the ship must therefore be fairl deep'with its tages, will be mademanifest in the following floor well below thewater level. to accommodate scrip i n ken in GQnnection with the accoin: the load they are designed to carry. Access to pa in d aw s inwhi t e a o mpa tment he ead n er. .ad- 1 a diag amma i p an vi w of a p ein o cargo, is had arifting t e ear r e ferred mb dhn h i he n e opside, and thi eon -ti u esa eri us. d aw ac 2 is a ramma a m t ewher h avy piec s. at car o a ri d s it e a ew en onli e 1 of Fi requires a large forge of men or special quipment Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken. on t acco pl s he loading. r un oading of h line of ship. Fig. 4, is an enlarged fragmentary cross sec- Another serious handic inhe ent in th s th iena e t n a th l n of e 3 anti s i und t e .aards to which old rs h w he ntihse h meters o h m ea y the am hibi n a e subje ted when h n in th P n oons th re they have ,to climb over the topside in the fac of Referring specifically. to the, drawing, the am.- n my fire itae to or leave he area hibi n 9 ho th eihi elude hhll ll a phibian. ing .a central bottom plate 12, an arcuate bow It i n object of my invention topruviue an otto p a a slo in stern bottom plate am ib an ntowhie ares may be loaded and from which it may be unloaded without passing over the topside of the ship.

Contrary to amphibians, the common design o l n n boa s s to make these. r lativ ly l n and. shallow, with their deck disposed above the water level, and provide an end door which may be lowered .onto the beach to serve as a ramp over which men and cargo, including wheeled 4'; side Walls '5; a bulkhead i a st on ry t r et 1 l; a d a f rward e Built t a ly of he s d lls L5 is a o o 2 .Mehntesi abou ea h on on Z0 is a track-laying belt mechanism 2|, which includes a seriesof bog-i9 Wheels 22 provided along the lower edge .of the pontoon, a pair of idler rollers 23 mounted on, top of the'pontoon, an idler sprocket 24 mounted on the rear upper vehicles, may be transferred ,irornthe deck nto ea n o the ntoon atlr ep set .5 n the beach, or vice versa. However, amphibian 1 n O a tr smi on .25 provi e n designers have heretofore been bound by certain the flfOIIt e 0f t e 11. d a tr ckelaying hell} prejudices which prevented the conception of an .39 which 1. ne @3094 h? $p 0 k l 24 nd amphibian bein equipped with su nn r, 25, rollers 23 and bogie Wheels 2.2, Thi belt has For an amphibian to be well balanced in the 40 a S e Of E 3| or engaging the ground water, either when loaded or light, it is necessary When the amphibian I0 is Operating o l d, a d that the heavier elements of the equipment, such for eng in h water w n th mphibian is as the engine, transmission, control cabin, and afloat, whereby the amphibian is {impelled fuel tanks, be distributed about the ship in through the wa r wh n the track-l yin lts balancing relation with the center of buoyancy. 30 are actuated. It has become accepted as an unavoidable necese a sio 25 has a h sp ed Shaft 35 sity, therefore, to occupy and block each end of carry g a p e th ou Which Power is the ship with one or more of these heavier equipadapted to be delivered to the transmission, the ment items. As the track-laying mechanisms latter being controllable to utilize this power to are mounted on the side walls of the ship, no drive the track-laying belts 3|] forwardly at differway has been apparent of providing a door in a hull wall of the amphibian for introducing cargo into or unloading it from the cargo compartment of the ship.

It is a further object of my invention to provide ent speeds or to drive these in reverse. Some of the levers for controlling this transmission are shown, but it is unnecessary to illustrate or describe the controls for this transmission as these are well understood in the art.

Journalled in suitable bearings provided on the bulkhead l6 and auxiliary frame 40 is a countershaft 4| having a sprocket 42 which connects by a chain 43 to the sprocket 36, which is located directly thereabove. The shaft M also carries free wheeling sprockets 44.

The amphibian I9 preferably has two internal combustion engines 50, one of which is installed in each of the pontoons 26, each engine being connected by a drive shaft to a sprocket 52 on a shaft 53 which journals in a bearing 5Q provided in a forward portion of the pontoons 20. The sprockets 52 are connected to the sprockets 42 by chains 51.

A supply of gasoline for the engine 58 in each pontoon may be furnished from a tank 58 mounted in that pontoon opposite the center of gravity of the craft.

The hull l 1 provides a cargo well which is formed by the side walls I5, the bulkhead l6, a floor 60 and an end door 6|.

Located in the space between the floor 60 and the hull bottom l2 are radiators 62, for cooling the engines 50. Blowers 53 are also located in this space and driven by the respective engines 50 to suck air in through a conduit 64, draw this air through the radiator 62 and discharge this air through a conduit 66. The radiators 62 are connected to the cooling jackets on the engines 50 by water pipes 6! and 68. As clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the upper ends of the conduits 64 and 65 connect with the atmosphere through openings 70 formed in the upper outer edges of the wall l6. Thus, even though the surf may be splashing somewhat over the bow of the craft, this will not interfere with the operation of the air circulating system for keeping the radiators 62 0001.

In order to have access to the engines 50 for tuning these and repairing the same, suitable doors or removable panels (not shown) may be provided in the walls IE or in the other walls of the pontoons 29, or in both.

The door 6! is preferably strongly constructed as shown in Fig. 1, with upper and lower tubular stringers l5 and i6, which are united by channels or I-beams H and covered outside and inside by metal sheeting 18. The lower stringer 16 is secured by suitable hinges 19 to a cross channel member 80 provided on the hull H. A suitable strip 8! of resilient material, such as rubber, is provided to make a water-tight joint between the bottom and side edges of the door GI and the hull I I when this door is closed. Along the side walls, the strip 8! lies in the bottom of grooves 82 into which tongues 83, formed in the door 6|, extend when this door is closed. Not only does this form a water-tight joint between the door and the hull but it integrates the side walls with the door when the latter is closed.

Cables 85 connect outer upper corners of the door 6| to winches 86, which are operated either electrically or by hand, as desired, so as to lower and raise the door 6| as indicated in Fig. 1. When this door is lowered into its dotted line position 81, it forms a ramp leading practically from the level of floor to the level of the ground 88, on which the amphibian is shown as resting.

From the foregoing it is seen that I have provided a practical solution for the problem of loading and unloading cargo and personnel from an amphibian while operating this amphibian in amphibious naval warfare. The division of the power plant into two engines 50 and the location of these individually in the pontoons 29, makes possible the distribution of the weight of the power plant control cabin and transmission about the center of buoyancy of the craft so that the craft will have good seaworthy characteristics when traveling empty of cargo, thereby making practical the installation of a door in one end of the hull.

I claim:

1. An amphibian comprising: a hull; two pontoons one of which is provided on each side of said hull; two track-laying belts, one of which is mounted about each of said pontoons; a pair of engines for driving said belts, each of said pontoons having one of said engines mounted therein; means for transmitting power from said engines to said belts; means forming a cargo well in said hull, said means including a floor; and apparatus disposed between the bottom of said hull and said floor for cooling said engines.

2. An amphibian comprising: a hull; two pontoons, one of which is provided on each side of said hull; two track-laying belts, one of which is mounted on each of said pontoons; a pair of engines for driving said belts, each of said pontoons, having one of said engines mounted therein; means for transmitting power from said engines to said belts; means forming a cargo well in said hull, said means including a floor; apparatus disposed between the bottom of said hull and said floor for cooling said engines; and a door in one end of said hull for loading and unloading cargo.

JAMES M. HAIT.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,317,103 Rimailho Sept. 23, 1919 1,696,439 Knox Dec. 25, 1928 1,853,357 Howe Apr. 12, 1932 2,138,207 Roebling Nov. 29, 1938 2,223,885 Powell Dec. 3, 1940 

